Feral chicken

Common card · No. 310837

Feral chickens are derived from chickens (Gallus domesticus) who have returned to the wild. Like the red junglefowl (the species from which chickens were domesticated), feral chickens will roost in bushes in order to avoid predators at night. Feral chickens typically form social groups composed of a dominant cockerel, several hens, and subordinate cocks. Sometimes the dominant cockerel is designated by a fight between cocks. They lay anywhere from 24 to 60 eggs per year being considerably lower from domestically living hens, which produce 300+ eggs per year and closer to their wild ancestors, the red junglefowl which lays 8 to 18 eggs per year. The lower egg count is due to the process of feralization, where domestic animals may partially regain their wild properties when reintroduced to the wild, as farm chickens have been bred to produce as many eggs as possible, they may lay less eggs when reintroduced to the wild. As chickens are reintroduced to the wild, natural selective pressures...

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